Outlook rosy for 'sea of red' Louisville fans in New Orleans

Jan. 2, 2013

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NEW ORLEANS — Chase Rodgers is from Orlando and grew up a University of Florida fan. But he’s also a recent graduate of the University of Louisville, where he played soccer. So while in New Orleans with his parents, UF grads Bonnie and Lenny Rodgers, he was all behind the Cardinals in Wednesday night’s Allstate Sugar Bowl showdown with the heavily favored Gators.

At Pat O’Brien’s in the French Quarter, which has been flooded with red-clad fans since before New Year’s Eve, Bonnie Rodgers wore a Florida orange-striped shirt, while Lenny wore a black and red windbreaker over an orange golf shirt to show his twin loyalties.

“It’s a tough one,” Bonnie said. “We’re wearing Gator outfits, but we’re kind of cheering for Louisville. We’ve been a part of that for a long time. We’re going with the winner, and whoever is having the most fun…. And Louisville definitely has it, numbers-wise. I think they’re having a little better time than some of the Gators.”

Gordon Stratton lives in West Palm Beach and also is a Gator grad. But his son, Mike, is a Louisville senior and on the swim team.

“I came here wanting a good game, and I didn’t want to (tick) my son off,” Gordon said. “So I’m hoping that Louisville hangs with the Gators, that the Gators make some turnovers in the third quarter and Louisville makes it a good game into the fourth quarter.”

“And that Louisville is going to win on a last-second field goal,” Mike interjected.

“There are so many Louisville fans here, and you’d hate to disappointment them,” Gordon continued, adding of the Gators, “I’ve got just one thing to say: Been there, done that. I like seeing the new kids on the block. Right, son?”

Many Cardinal athletes came to root on the football team.

“You can’t be involved in the athletic department and root for anyone else,” Mike Stratton said.

“It’s unexpected. I never thought it would be like this,” said Adam Donaldson, a recent grad who played tennis for Louisville. “It’s quite phenomenal, I think. I thought there’s be more (Florida fans). It’s closer and I hear flights are pretty cheap from Miami. I was surprised at the low turnout, it seems like… We came in (Tuesday) and went down to Bourbon Street. I’d say, it was 5-1, 6-1 Louisville to Florida fans. Florida fans just think this is going to be a walkover. But we’re pretty confident we’re going to get the win at the Sugar Bowl. I’m very confident of that actually.”

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Gavin Mittel, a Louisvillian and recent U of L grad on the swim team, “Louisville always wasn’t so great. Then we get to this point where we’re going to bowl games. We kind of grew up. Florida may be a little different story. They’ve been good, and this may be just another game for them.”

He added that the Sugar Bowl location no doubt contributed to the Cardinal turnout, but also the fact that coach Charlie Strong turned down an offer from Tennessee to stay at Louisville.

“It increased some loyalty for sure,” Mittel said. “They want to show their support for his support.”

Whether it was the French Quarter, Tuesday’s Second Line parade and subsequent pep rally or at the AllState FanJam in Champions Square adjacent to the Superdome, the Card faithful came, they saw, they drank and they hoped to conquer.

At the FanJam, Christi Polston called the fan turnout unbelievable and said she’s been surprised by the disparity between the Louisville and Florida crowd numbers.

“It’s a sea of red,” she said.

Louisville might have sold at least 2½ times as many tickets from its official 17,500 Sugar Bowl allotment as Florida, but that doesn’t take into account thousands getting seats through other means.

John Mayhugh went through a friend who works at the Superdome to get his tickets, scoring two in a 300-level suite.

“When Louisville played in the Orange Bowl, I went on StubHub and bought tickets, because we did so much better seat-wise than what you can get through U of L,” he said. “I think that’s sort of the problem: the schools get crummy seats to sell. You feel bad not helping buy the allotment. But you really want to sit in as good a place as you can for the best price you can pay.”

Justin Thornsberry predicted that quarterback Teddy Bridgewater would keep Louisville in the game and the key would be giving up big plays or not.

“Everybody thinks we’re scared, that we’re little brother,” Thornsberry said. “But our players are from Florida. They’re not scared of these guys at all. The way it’s being put out is we’re going to get beat up, SEC vs. Big East. No. These guys are on the same level as the Florida guys. The Florida guys almost lost to Louisiana-Lafayette, almost got beat by Bowling Green. They’re 11-1; we’re 10-2. I think we’ll be fine.”